“Shit,” she mutters, pulling out her phone.
I try to focus my attention back on Penny, rubbing her back for comfort while she whispers into her husband’s ear. I turn away, trying not to eavesdrop, giving them the privacy they need.
“The ambulance is pulling in now. Evan, you take River and get the hell out of here. Of all of you he’s classified as dead. Where did the bullet that hit Frannie come from?” Cara questions.
Evan pushes River through the kitchen and out back.
“The window,” Nate answers.
“Shit, why did he have to go and shoot her?”
That’s what we want to know, but haven’t got any answers yet.
“Where’s Claire?”
“Upstairs, I think.” I shrug, not knowing where my daughter is. Even if I went to her, she wouldn’t know who I was, so maybe it’s best if Cara goes to find her.
“You guys need to go. I don’t want you here when the authorities arrive. Take Claire with you.”
Nate nods, while I stay frozen next to Penny. I don’t know how this is all going to play out, but leaving her isn’t an option.
“What’s the plan, Cara?”
The sound of sirens grows closer and Cara appears panicked. I’m sure this isn’t how she expected everything to go down. Honestly, it isn’t how I expected things to be either. I thought for sure that Ray was part of Frannie’s posse by the way the basement window was busted from the inside.
Cara pulls out her gun and aims it at an already dead Frannie.
“Hughes, don’t. Your bullets won’t match.”
She looks at me and for the first time I see fear. She’s the only one to offer me help, aside from Marley. I can’t let her lose her career over this.
Rask stands and grabs his gear as if it’s no big deal that his hands are covered in blood. “You found them like this, a stray bullet from a hunter,” he says, before walking through the kitchen.
“McCoy, you go, and I’ll go get Claire. You’ll be too emotional when you see her upstairs. I’ll meet you back at the hotel,” Nate tells me.
I nod reluctantly and take my exit through the same door I came in. I glance back at Penny, hoping for a sign that she knows I’m leaving, and I get nothing. My only solace right now is the knowledge that I’ll soon be seeing my daughter for the first time in six years. It doesn’t even matter that she won’t remember me or know anything about me. Just seeing her in person, listening to her talk will be enough to get me through the night.
“WHO’S TUCKER?”
“My husband.”
The words from earlier replay over and over with each step I take in the white sterile hallway. The look on his face and the fear in his voice is something I’ll never forget. Calling Tucker my husband was a mistake and one I regret. As soon as the word slipped off my tongue I wanted to take it back, but I couldn’t. He heard me and by the expression on his face, I hurt him. It wasn’t my intent, and by all means I shouldn’t have thought about Tucker in that moment, but I did.
It’s odd to think that referring to Tucker as my husband came so easily considering I’ve been married to Ray for so much longer. I’ve even known Ray longer. I love him, but I’ve never lost the love I felt for Tucker.
People cry, they moan in pain from the rooms I pass. Nurses shuffle from room to room helping their patients all while I wait for news on my husband. Only a few make eye contact with me and rarely does a smile form on their face. Their jobs in the ER are not happy ones, but ones that require quick thinking in life or death situations. They don’t have time for idle chitchat and pleasantries, especially for wives who refuse to go to the waiting room. I want the doctors to sense me out in the hall so they work harder on saving my husband’s life.
The emergency room doors open and in rushes another gurney with life saving measures being taken. An EMT straddles the patient while doing chest compressions. He’s barking out orders, telling others what needs to be done to save this person’s life. It’s too hard to tell whether it’s a male or female, but nonetheless it’s a life worth saving.
That’s what they were doing on the way here while the ambulance sped down the windy road as fast as it could. The drawback to living in a small town is that the nearest hospital is forty minutes away and since the gun was fired and the bullet hit Ray, it seems like hours have passed, maybe even days. I know it’s not possible because he’d be dead, but that’s what it feels like.
As for Frannie … I hang my head and push away the onslaught of tears that want to escape. I know once I start crying I won’t be able to stop and I shouldn’t shed a tear for her. She ruined everything. It’s hard to wrap my head around the chain of events leading up to today. My life was peaceful, happy, and six or seven months ago my axis rocked slightly when my husband brought up a news report about a Navy SEAL, only the chances that he heard them incorrectly are high, since the four warriors I once loved as my family had returned. If Ray had just said four and not one things could’ve been different.